Target-related autobiographical memories affect dietary intake intentions.

Although there is evidence that autobiographical memory (AM) recall impacts behaviour in multiple domains, the mechanisms for this effect are unclear. Two experiments examined how AM Frame and Relatedness to target behaviour affect intention to control future dietary intake. Participants completed an AM task where they recalled success or fail-framed memories of behaviour in the target domain (dietary intake), a related domain (exercise), and an unrelated domain (work). Next they completed questionnaires about attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioural intention for controlling dietary intake. In Experiment 1, Frame and Relatedness of AMs recalled did not affect attitudes or self-efficacy ratings of controlling dietary intake. However, Related AMs resulted in higher intention ratings to control future dietary intake compared to Unrelated AMs. Experiment 2 replicated these results for attitude and self-efficacy, but showed no effect on behavioural intention. A mini-meta analysis was conducted to clarify the effect of AM recall on intention. This analysis confirmed a significant effect of AM Relatedness on intention ratings (meta-analysis Cohen's d = .25, Z = 2.54, p = .011). These results provide evidence that recalling related AM can affect dietary behaviour intentions directly, without changes attitudes or ratings of personal control regarding dietary intake.

A meta-analysis of children's self-reports of dietary intake.

OBJECTIVE: Although research studies increasingly use children as primary reporters in dietary assessments, it is unclear how well children's self-reported intake correlates with independently validated reports of their intake; this meta-analysis assesses that correlation. DESIGN: Moderators of the correlation between self-reported and independently validated intake were predicted a priori: type of dietary intake assessment (24 h recall, food diary and food frequency questionnaires), validation measures, parental assistance and age. Online databases were searched for articles published from 1990 to 2014 that compared children's self-reports of dietary intake to validated observations of food intake in children age 4-16. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Summary effect size Pearson r between children's self-reported dietary intake and independently validated dietary intake were calculated. RESULTS: In k = 32 samples from 23 studies, a statistically significant correlation (r = .48, Z = 7.26, p < .001) was found between children's self-reported dietary intake and independently validated reports of dietary intake. Validation method (Q = 17.49, df = 2, p < .001) and parental assistance (Z = 2.03, p = .042) were significant moderators of this correlation. Self-report methodology (Q = 3.95, df = 2, p = .139) and age (Q = .02, p = .879) were not significant moderators of the distribution of effect sizes. CONCLUSION: Together, these results provide baseline information about children's recall in dietary intake assessments conducted with children as primary reporters.